Freaky Friday! Sensex plunges nearly 1K pts after day’s high

Mumbai, May 13

Equity benchmarks capitulated in fag-end trade on Friday to post their sixth straight session of loss as investors fled for safety amid dismal macroeconomic data and persistent selling by foreign investors.

SBI top laggard

The Sensex rallied over 800 points in afternoon trade but buckled under intense selling pressure to finish 136.69 points lower at 52,793.62 points

Rupee at all-time low of 77.55/USD

The rupee pared its initial gains and settled 5 paise lower at its fresh lifetime low of 77.55 against the US dollar on FridayForex traders said the rupee consolidated in a narrow range, as the weakness in regional currencies and depressing economic data weighed on the domestic unit

Building on a firm start, the 30-share BSE Sensex rallied over 800 points in afternoon trade but buckled under intense selling pressure to finish 136.69 points lower at 52,793.62 — its lowest closing level since July 30, 2021. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 25.85 points to settle at 15,782.15.

SBI was the top laggard, tumbling 3.76%, after it reported a 41% surge in Q4 standalone net profit at Rs 9,114 crore but failed to meet analysts’ estimates.

ICICI Bank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Maruti and Tata Steel were among the other losers.

In contrast, Sun Pharma, Mamp;M, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Titan, Reliance and Nestle India were among the gainers, climbing up to 3.76%.

On the macroeconomic front, retail inflation soaring to 7.79% in April has raised the odds of another interest rate hike by the RBI early next month to tame prices.